P11 Esteban Ocon – Chassis 03
Strategy: New SuperSoft (1 lap) – Used SuperSoft (29 laps) – Used UltraSoft (39 laps)
Esteban: “This has been probably the worst race of my whole Formula One career so far. Nothing went our way and it’s just been a terrible afternoon. I made a very good start, managed to pass the two Saubers on the run down to turn one, but that’s pretty much the only positive to take from today. I went alongside Carlos [Sainz] in turn three but I saw he was going to turn in. I braked to avoid a collision, but we still made contact and it broke my front wing. I had to pit at the end of the first lap and my race was effectively over. It’s a shame because we had a good strategy and a fast car, but today was not our day. Let’s just forget about this race and come back stronger in Brazil.”
DNF Sergio Perez – Chassis 02
Strategy: New SuperSoft (30 laps) – Used UltraSoft (8 laps – DNF)
Sergio: “It’s a big shame to retire from my home Grand Prix – especially when things were looking really good in the race. I think we had at least seventh place in our pocket and the great strategy that we started planning yesterday [in qualifying] was really paying off. Sometimes in racing you have these big disappointments when there is an issue with the car. Today it was the brakes that forced me to retire because suddenly the pedal went long and we had to park the car. Until then it had been a really exciting race for me – I had a great first lap, getting ahead of Fernando [Alonso], and then some good battles with the Saubers later in the race. I was controlling my race, looking after the tyres, and I thought we would pick up some good points. I feel sorry for the team and for the fans who have been incredible this week. They always make me feel very proud and today they gave me amazing support.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal & CEO
“A hugely disappointing afternoon for the team and definitely a missed opportunity to score important points. The strategy we had prepared for yesterday was playing into our hands with Sergio until a brake seal failure forced us to retire the car on lap 38. Up until that moment, Sergio was comfortably running in the points and looked set for sixth or seventh place. On the other side of the garage, Esteban had a scruffy race with contact on lap one destroying any chance of points. Sainz closed the door in turn three and that damaged the front wing. It was a real shame because Esteban only needed to stay out of trouble on lap one and the strategy would have seen him finish well inside the points.”
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